The City Government of Baguio is calling on residents to avoid using firecrackers and other pyrotechnic materials in greeting the New Year as it gears up for another zero firecracker-related injury revelry.
City Health Office Head Rowena Galpo said they are aiming for a repeat of firecracker- injury-free December 2018 to January holiday celebration.
“For the first time, we recorded zero firecracker-related injury in Baguio City, no death, no tetanus, no watusi, no stray bullet cases,” Galpo said.
“We should maintain the zero firecracker incidence. We do not like to have injuries due to unnecessary use of firecrackers and pyrotechnic materials to celebrate the holidays,” she added.
Record shows that in 2015, the city had seven firecracker-related injuries, four in 2016, three in 2017 and none in 2018.
The substantial drop in previous years is attributed to the ban on the sale of firecrackers in the city of Baguio through an administrative order of then mayor Mauricio Domogan in 2015.
In 2016, the city government again adopted an AO banning the sale and use of firecrackers and in 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte issued Executive Order 28 – providing for the regulation and control of the use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices.
The City Health Office and the DOH started monitoring firecracker-related cases from Dec. 21 to Jan. 5, 2020.
Galpo said that despite the call of the city government, the different hospitals are still gearing up to respond to firecracker-related injuries and other medical emergencies during the holidays most especially for the New Year’s eve celebration.
She encouraged the public to use alternative ways for merry making during the celebration of the New Year or join the community fireworks display at the Burnham Park on New Year’s eve which is being organized by the city government of Baguio for its residents. – Redjie Cawis
